Our Thankful Tree...

Last year was the first year we had ever put up our Christmas tree before Thanksgiving.  I loved having it up during Thanksgiving as a reminder of Christ's birth and how very THANKFUL I am for God sending us His son.  So with Thanksgiving quickly approaching, I wanted to get the tree up, so we had our traditional Christmas-tree-putting-up-party, which includes loud Christmas music and all of our favorite snack foods while we decorate the tree.

I love this picture of Jared!  He was so proud that he had helped decorate the tree!  John Wesley had toe surgery this morning, so he didn't take charge like he normally would.  William's allergies always bother him a lot when we get the Christmas tree out (because of the dust from storage, I suppose), so he guarded the snack table.

Since John Wesley was out of commission, Jonas took charge of organizing the whole shindig.  I think John Wesley, Cody, and William were still eating all the snacky food--little smokies, cheeseball, chex mix, bagel pizzas--fun foods that we don't have every day.

Lena (in her orange tutu) brought the right pieces at the right time, then helped Jonas fluff out all the branches.

MaKenzie and Matthew helped unload the bins, too.   Matthew threw the tree topper across the room!  It will be interesting to see how long it takes him to dismantle the tree this year...

With so many helpers, the tree went up in a jiffy!  It seems like the ornaments flew onto the tree!  I turned around 5 minutes after the tree was up and they were all on!

Perfection!  At least for me anyway.  I love all the handmade ornaments.  Every year I love taking them out and marveling at the tiny handprints and the child-like coloring on the ornaments that the kids have made.  I also have an ornament with a picture of Katy Lu on it, as well as a few ornaments that friends have given me over the years.  My little box of sentimental and construction paper ornaments is precious to me!  They remind me of even more reasons I am so thankful this season!